Inglewood Facility Aims To Make Breast Cancer Diagnosis Accessible To Black Women, Who Are At Greater Risk Of Dying From Disease

INGLEWOOD (CBSLA) — Ahead of the annual Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure In Los Angeles, one breast cancer survivor is helping spread the word of the increased risk of the disease befalling Africa-American women.

“I just cried, ‘Why me?’ No one in my family but me has been diagnosed with breast cancer,” survivor Tracy Butler told CBS2 News. She was diagnosed with breast cancer 15 years ago.

“I just thought it could never happen to me,” said Butler, who was working in radiology at the time.

It’s a common thought among women, but experts say black women often ignore the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, which could contribute to the following statistic.

“There’s 43 percent risk that you will die of breast cancer as an African-American woman,” warns Baldwin Hills family practitioner Dr. Sharon McGarrity. She added that, while the general population has a 90 percent survival rate for breast cancer, it drops to 75 percent for black women.

McGarrity said that genetics and biology are factors in acquiring the disease, but she said many black women don’t get diagnosed until it’s too late.

“It’s fear, is one. They don’t want to be found to have something like cancer,” said McGarrity, who said a lack of access to medical facilities adds to the problem.

That’s why Brad Schmidt opened an advanced imaging center in Inglewood, a predominately African-American part of Los Angeles that had been underserved.